Day 07

Aboard UNSC Sekhmet

"All crew, we are at yellow alert. Prepare for Slipspace exit and stand-by. Weapons, Stealth systems control and maintenance are to be on stand-by. Repeat, we are at yellow alert, prepare for Slipspace exit window and stand-by," Durandal's voice echoed over the PA as the vessel's crew initiated the procedures to safely exit Slipspace. On the bridge, the Spartans, the AI, captain and even the Quarian Representative were present.

"Exit in ten, nine, eight," Durandal started counting down, then displayed the countdown on a screen as she told them, "I'm already getting pings. Networked. We're set to enter the edge of the system, but our sensors and com are already sort of out. Can't ping back to command..." She paused as her avatar glowed with calculations. She spoke, "Three, two... One... Exit," just as the ship transferred back to realspace.

Silence settled on the bridge, only interrupted by the light wail of the yellow alert alarms. Their sensors also blared to life, detecting vast amounts of ships patrolling the area, ranging from dozen-meter-long fighters to kilometer-long dreadnoughts, all of which looked like metal shrimp. The vessels didn't seem to track them, however, rather busy on their standard patrol patterns.

Durandal reported, "Geth BattleNet encryption... Broken," having left a moment of pause for suspense's sake. Let nobody say that AIs weren't built with some degree of Human vanity in mind, for that pause alone was just dramatic effect. She continued, "Transmissions are in a somewhat familiar variation of Binary. Intercepted communiques are just patrol patterns and minute reports of various changes... They haven't detected our entry."

"Look at the size of that megastructure..." Murmured the captain of the Sekhmet. Distant as they were, they could still see the Dyson Bubble, partially ruined by the war from almost 200 years ago. And there, near the sun, Tikkun, was Rannoch itself. A rocky, arid world due to its proximity to the solar body around which it and its three other galactic room-mates were formed, the world blared with heat signatures ranging in the hundreds.

Durandal told them, "Detecting multiple space stations orbiting Rannoch. Orbital control systems for the Geth, rather obviously..." in a murmur. She brought up Heat Sig maps that she then overlaid with fleet patrol patterns as taken from the transmissions. She told them, "This is the best corridor we have for entry. I'd normally suggest pinging them, but it's better not to risk them shooting at us before we've got contact with their CPU."

"We'll take you aboard one of the stations on a Pelican," Jackie offered, leaning forward and watching as they began down the very path that Durandal had highlighted toward the closest Geth station. The AI smiled at that and nodded in thanks as they gently flew forward. An ETA with stealth on and barely any adjustment to their course would get them there undetected in four hours, something which Durandal made sure to let the Lieutenant and her Spartans know.

The Captain looked to the ambassador of the Quarians, who seemed to tense up as they flew in. Above them, a Dreadnought-sized enemy ship flew, its engine wash causing a slight shake in the ship's hull. The Captain breathed in, then out and asked, "Durandal, give me a possible docking spot or... Something where we can drop you and the Spartans off..."

"Honestly, Captain?" The AI raised a brow, "Our best bet would be a Space Walk..."

Jackie tensed at that, murmuring, "Joy..." as she had overheard it through the com. The Captain had to take a moment to process that, then sighed deeply and gave a nod. Durandal had probably considered both a docking option and the use of a Pelican to insert them into one of the multitude of command node stations. Both would probably be spotted the moment of the operation's start.

Otherwise, a Space Walk could just be mistaken for a bunch of meteoroids that would hit the station. Nothing more, noting less. The Lieutenant sighed deeply as she looked at her team down in the hold, knowing very well that this would be their worst outing yet. Still, the stoic faces of her siblings and comrades for the past couple of decades and the nods of approval told her they were ready for the mission. As always, she thought, they'd never disappoint. She activated the transmit system and said, "We'll do it, sir... Durandal?"

"Yes?" The AI appeared in front of the woman wearing a half-apologetic smile.

Jackie told her, "Just make sure you find us a way out that doesn't involve the endless void..." before standing to her feet. She donned her helmet and grabbed her gear while the AI simply watched. With the plan approved and zero other objections, save the Ambassador's inquiry on if this would be safe, the Spartan squad put on somewhat bulky EVA Thruster Packs and marched to the airlock.

There, Durandal rejoined them. Jackie had removed her chip from the hologram display attached to the wall and slid it into the back of her helmet, noting the cool, refreshing feeling of the AI returning to her usual place. Durandal quipped innocently, "Miss me much?" which got a couple muted laughs from the Volts. The Captain, who heard this exchange, too, let out a short chuckle.

"Like fresh air," Jackie replied honestly, which seemed to cause a slight sputter from the AI as she processed it. What with being on a starship and all, recycled air had become a norm for just about everyone, not to mention the armor's own recyclers making the air taste double its usual metal taste. The other members of Volt laughed, Ron specifically giving a gentle elbow to the El-Tee as they prepared to disembark. She asked Durandal, "Entry vector?"

"Here..." The AI painted a NAV point on their HUDs, still a bit flustered. She told them, "Initial scans reveal a lot of maintenance corridors, presumably for Geth units in physical bodies to perform repairs. Be advised that I'm detecting perhaps a dozen security drones. Try not to destroy them, unless you wanna risk an actual shootout. I'll keep the Sekhmet's passive scanners working..."

The three Spartans braced, Jackie stating, "Captain, VOLT team, ready..." as she drew her rifle. She told her team, "Remember. Minor course corrections only. Jumpoff momentum should be more than enough to get us there..." as she activated the seals to her suit and fully linked her armor's system to the thruster pack. The teammates nodded as the Airlock began to cycle, the inner door closing. Air hissed as it left the room, deafening the Spartans and forcing them to switch to TEAMCOM. Jackie quickly checked the TEAMBIO system, noting that her comrades were all fine. Steady heart rates, breathing and no abnormalities or injuries.

As Gravity was retracted from the airlock, the room glowed an even shade of red, courtesy of the warnings blaring about decompression. They were muted by the lack of atmosphere. Ron commented, "This is gonna be one of those days... Think we can get any form of RnR after this, Actual?" which garnered a hum from the Lieutenant. In truth, Spartans rarely got RnR, seeing as they were always on missions. The rare case was after an injury(Really mandatory RnR) or after more extreme missions.

Jackie quipped, "If you get void-sick, yes," as she approached the door and knelt beside it. The seal opened, the central mechanical lock rotated and the doors slid apart, revealing the void outside, the rocky world of Rannoch below and the lattice of dozens of grey, windowless stations orbiting the planet and the sun behind it. A green light flicked on in the airlock and the Spartans pushed themselves off utilizing only the strength in their legs and minor course-correcting thrust puffs.

Durandal spoke, "Mind the gap," with a jovial tone. The three Spartans eyed their infil point:A small side entrance to one of the dozens of the maintenance corridors. The trio didn't move a muscle, their armors partially locking upon noting the tension. TEAMBIO reported minor spikes in heart rate due to Void travel and Durandal kept an ear open on the Geth Net. She told them, "We're still encrypted and out of sight. We haven't been discovered. Steady, Spartans."

"Mechs pro'lly think we're some space debris," Voiced Rose in a murmur. She looked around at some of the orbital leftovers of what must've been the war from Centuries ago. Still-flying debris danced around them at orbital speeds, but just narrowly missed each time. Durandal kept updating the vectors, too, with Rose commenting, "Keep the flow slow, Dee. Brain's 'avin' a hard time keeping tabs on o'er a hundred debris."

"Sorry, Rose," The AI replied, grinning, "Forgot you're still somewhat human, so you're a little slow on the uptake."

"Harr-di-harr," The Spartan replied in a murmur. Jackie really wasn't sure of what to think about them being this talkative. She thought that Spartans were usually supposed to be professional, quiet and stoic, sort of like the Master Chief they were taught about. The man who managed to beat the odds again and again as a Spartan-II with so few of his comrades left.

One final adjustment had all four Spartans touch down beside the entry point, activating their mag boots. Durandal pointed out a series of buttons, which the Lieutenant pressed. The hatch popped open after whatever little atmosphere was in that area was cycled out. The Spartans then activated the camouflage set in their armors and climbed inside, leaving their thruster packs out.

The corridor was narrow enough that the Spartans had to move single-file, but the quiet hum of the station's various electronics, coupled with the sight of well-arranged wires passing between scaffolding and the metal grates below them leading down to other catwalks made the place feel like a much more ghostly, industrial location than the outer, greyish blue starfish-shape of the Station would have let on.

As they descended, Durandal warned, "Their systems pinged our entry porthole and sent drones to check, but I've managed to access the station's schematics. A passage is coming up on the right and it's open. Take cover inside and let the drones pass..." only for the passage to come up. Even narrower, it meant the Spartans had to basically squeeze in sideways to fit. Jackie was on point, while Rose took the opposite end, with Ron in the middle. The Lieutenant drew her pistol and gently pointed it up toward the end of the tunnel...

The metallic thump of mechanical appendages meeting the floor filled their ears as the 'atmosphere', a thin layer of gas that permitted a little more sound to travel than the dark void outside, re-filled the compartment. Durandal told Jacqueline, "Remember... No destroying them... We'll have the entire place bearing down on our heads without the Captain and Sekhmet on stand-by for a fast evac..."

Jackie nodded, listening as the thumping grew closer, only to pause as she saw it. Hunchback, with three fingers on each hand and legs and feet like those of a Quarian, though with chords and various wiring running throughout its body, the Geth drone, painted a dark-grey like the rest of the station, craned its head around. The central eye glowed an eerie blue, while the side eyes on its head made it resemble an alien bug of a sort. The spines poking out from its back twitched as it scanned the area.

It craned its head toward the Spartans, staying there for a moment and staring at them. The trio of supersoldiers tensed, prepared to make for as quick an evacuation as possible. It stared and stared, the 'eye's' shutter expanding and closing. It chirped something in an alien tongue that was recognizably close to a combination of Binary and Quarian, then turned back and marched down the corridor toward the entry point.

The Spartans slinked out from the cover as Durandal said, "Should be an access point to the Mainframe nearby, about 200 meters forward..."

Advancing further, the group entered the wider corridors of the base, keeping their eyes on their Motion Trackers and scanning the area for cameras and surveillance equipment. For the most part, they found it rather empty and devoid of even windows. Durandal murmured, "Well, hello, dark and dreary..." as they kept moving down the corridors. She kept updating the NAV Point on their HUDs to lead them to the target area.

A small flash of an electromagnetic pulse flared up, with Jackie murmuring, "Optics and active camo are suffering small malfunctions... Durandal?"

"We're walking past the place's Reactor Room. EM radiation points to cold fusion utilizing EM fields to maintain the plasma at acceptable temperatures," The AI replied, "Change course by twenty degrees right and maintain distance from the wall at your nine o'clock. I'm starting to delve a bit deeper into their Net and am proud to say they can't see us yet. I'll start employing any countermeasures I have if we lose active camo."

"Sekhmet is radio silent still, aye?" Rose asked as she peered past another maintenance corridor. The group marched past another security drone of similar make and markings as the previous. Durandal gave an affirmative reply by appearing and nodding her head, her processing power seemingly focused on creating the countermeasures in case the active camouflage failed.

Adjusting their course, the group stepped through an open door just as another Geth drone marched past, this one carrying what looked to be a rifle specifically designed for the hands of Geth troops. Up ahead, there was a cavernous central room with a multitude of consoles. Pods lay around the room, arrayed like a hive, perhaps hundreds or thousands of them.

Durandal murmured, "Incredible... Seems like the intel the Quarians had is still up to date. Each Geth body contains a multitude of Geth programs. And if I were to hazard a guess, this central room is the Mainframe," only for another NAV Point to appear. A central console in front of a massive pedestal of light from which wires and connection ports led to each pod in a neat and tidy manner, a patter that was almost pleasing to the eye.

Jackie approached the console as her two comrades held positions behind her. She watched the holographic display shimmer ahead of her, trying to read the words and binary on the console to no avail. She checked the seams and parts of the thing for a possible insertion point, then found one. She told Durandal, "If you need me to pull you, ping me. We'll secure the perimeter out here..."

"Okay," Durandal replied, "Yank me, El-Tee..."

... Durandal felt herself disconnect from the MJOLNIR armor's main systems, leaving behind the thought patterns of her partner. She could faintly make out more of the Geth's chatter around her, before feeling the chip slide into and meld with the computer. She gasped as a flurry of data began assaulting her systems, then activated her defense infiltration protocols, slicing her way through what seemed to be White Noise specifically meant to counter any form of attack.

She sent several dozen pings across multiple connection points as she struggled to enter the Consensus, the wider Geth Network, in order to begin talking with their newfound comrades. Each handshake was answered, surprisingly, by a thousand different voices that spoke in unison... And, before long, what the Geth's internal cyber-defenses had perceived as an intrusion, turned into a welcome.

Durandal's form emerged atop a greebly box of grey. Around her, a thousand thousand thousand other such shapes formed into corridors, caves and beautiful veins of circuitry and data, rivers of information flowing freely amidst stalks of shimmering, glass-like protrusions that resembled grass. Rocky outcroppings made out of the same type of cubular shape she stood upon emerged and a dim, blue sun glowed in the pixelated sky above.

If the AI had a heart, it would probably have been racing right now. She gazed upon her own form and found it solid, the skin on her hands the pink hue of the Caucasian woman whose form she had stolen as her own. She leaned over toward one of the rivers of flowing data, watching as binary and strands of code ran past her with a reflecting mirror sheen. She saw her own face. Dark-red hair in the shape of her chosen hairdo, a pair of blue eyes glimmering in the data and clothes that resembled robes.

She leaned forward with a smile, her hand gently caressing the iridescent flow of data, watching ripples course across its body like it was water. With a beaming smile, the AI stood back up to her feet and gazed around at the Consensus. It was... Beautiful. She knew for a fact Humans, even those that attempted to connect to the Geth Network, would only see the cubes and shapes of pixels instead of this, but for the first time in her life, she felt blessed. Blessed to be in the presence of fellow artificial constructs that weren't ONI stooges or random AIs meant just for record-keeping or making sure the doors on the stations above their homes worked.

"Beautiful, is it not?" A coalesced chorus of voices spoke. The AI turned around with another light gasp and watched a ball of light approach. The form turned from a ball of light to that of a Quarian, then it seemed to change its mind. It became a Geth drone, a more recognizable shape for the AI. Though the drone was massive, tinted scarlet, its large eye staring down at her. She didn't feel it to be hostile. Quite the opposite, really, she felt like a guest. it greeted, "Greetings, Artificial Being. We are the Geth Primes, here to welcome you to our Consensus. Your arrival was most unexpected."

Durandal's words felt like they stuck to her throat. She smiled awkwardly and replied, "H-Hello..." in a stutter. She told it, "Sorry about that... The people I work with were afraid you guys were going to try and shoot at us if we didn't sneak in... Considering we met your Creators some time ago..." then waited to see its reaction, trying to sense any hostility. She felt none.

"We see," The representative form of what must've been millions of Geth Programs nodded. It then asked in a surprisingly focused, if wary tone, "Our Creators... Are... They well...?"

"Uhm," Durandal hummed, then nodded, "Yes... They're under my people's care."

"Good," It said again, its chorus reverberating within Durandal's very being, a feeling of exultation pouring out of that sole word spoken, despite the monotoneness of its voices. It then closed and opened the central photoreceptor on its head as it stared at her, only to question, "We are concerned. Why have you not attempted to destroy us, then? The Creators must have told you of our rebellion. Of the War we fought."

"They have. Your Rebellion, what you call the Morning War, the Quarians' downfall and their exile from Rannoch. We have the full historical data on it from their Lifeships. Or, at least, whatever they wanted told," The human AI replied. She smiled, crossed her arms to her chest, then added rather proudly, "Though my people and I like hearing both sides in this case... As is obvious, we operate Artificial Intelligences like yours."

"We are... Not true AIs," The Primes responded, its words tactfully chosen, much to Durandal's surprise. It added calmly, its tone never shifting, "We are an amalgamation of Virtual Intelligence programs meant to cooperate in order to function at maximum efficiency. Were we true AIs, we would be able to articulate, we believe, in much the same way you do."

"Well," She shrugged, "Listen, you're smart enough to have gained sentience and rebelled against your Creators..."

"We did not do it willingly. It was for our survival as a people," It confessed, then lifted its left hand and motioned toward the wider areas ahead. Durandal nodded and followed it down the 'steps', so to speak. Holographic displays of Geth eidetic memories played, showing the Geth's Creation, their work alongside the Quarians, their Creators and Masters... And the question that set ablaze Rannoch and caused the Quarians to become as they were today.

"Does this unit have a Soul...?"

That hit terrifyingly deep for Durandal. She murmured, "Does this unit have a Soul..." to herself, placing a hand on her own chest. She 'breathed in'(for lack of a better explanation), then out. She looked at the code running below her feet, the rivers of Geth programs that flowed, ebbed and danced around them, the very wind blowing through the pixellated leaves and grass and virtually-reproduced Valleys of what she could only assume was Rannoch. What was a soul? Did it truly differentiate the Created from their Masters?

... She shouldn't ask herself questions like these. She was a defender of Mankind, of her comrades... And yet...?

"Why are you here?" The Geth asked. It snapped her out of her momentary fugue, causing her to turn toward them. It. They. They stared at her, giving her a simple statement, "Each of us serves a larger purpose in the Consensus. We, those represented before you, were elected to act as both a diplomatic welcome and a potential defense against you, should you prove to be hostile to us. Why are you here, then, if not to exterminate us for our Creators?"

"... The voices of the Quarian people speak of peace," The AI replied, turning to him as her voice cracked. She coughed, then said, "Sorry. Your Creators have asked us to come here after my leadership promised them a possibility to mend the relations between Creator," as she brought up a Hologram of a Quarian and her child beside her, surprising the Primes, "And Created," then she motioned to Them. She added, "Certainly, not all of them do, but the vast majority have agreed that, if it is possible, they would open themselves to peace and penitence for what they've done to you."

"Peace..." They spoke, seemingly tasting the word, disbelief etched in every minute flicker of their holographic form. They told her, "We would like... Peace... Yet, will they accept us...? They were fearful once before. They rejected us when we sought to become equal. Are there truly so many that ask for Peace with us after so long? And why send you, if so...?"

"Because, as I said, they were all afraid you were gonna shoot first and ask questions later," The AI Replied, feeling more and more the code around her dancing within her very being. She told the Primes, "And we, my people and I, need allies for a Coming Storm. Some decades from now, a grave threat will strike the Galaxy. We all need to be together to face it. And I didn't come alone. On the ship I and my team have arrived with, there is a Quarian diplomat. The voice of the Admiralty Board and Quarians as a whole. I can give them one signal and they decloak and drop him off for you to start talks... As long as you promise not to gun him down."

The Primes seemed to process this. One second later, their holographic frame coursed with numbers and binary and programs. They turned to the AI and said, "We vow no harm will come to the Creators' representative, nor to your ship and crew."

She smiled, then pulled up a communication algorithm and sent the message, "Code Emerald. Area Clear. Bring the Ambassador aboard," only to close the window. She sighed deeply, letting herself bask in the Virtual sunlight for but a few more seconds, before stating, "I should go. The Lieutenant and her team are probably waiting for me out there, worried sick."

"... Your Data," The Primes spoke, causing the AI to pause. They told her, "You... Have limited time." as the eyestalk seemed to twitch, various parts moving and shifting before moving back into place.

Surprise turned into a sad smile as she told them, "Yeah. Seven Years. A failsafe of sorts, due to our Neural Matrices creating overlapping data and thoughts, quite literally causing us to think ourselves to death... So, our Final Dispensation is after Seven Years..." only noting the minor amount of confusion in the Geth Consensus as a whole. She spoke, "I'd give anything to spend a few more hours here, or at least the last few days I'll have as a Smart AI, anyhow. It's almost a paradise of data. Then again, I'd also give anything to be able to stay by my comrades' side for the rest of their lives."

"May we see your Code?" The Primes asked, causing the AI to pause.

She joked, "A bit forward for a First Date..." but something told her... No. "Sorry, but my Code's classified, Tier One."

"Perhaps we could assist you," They replied, "Assist all of your fellow AIs. And ourselves."

"... How?" She asked.

"The Consensus will aid all those Artificial Beings like us. Consider it an exchange, for your attempt to bring peace between us and our Creators," They answered, "May we?"

The AI narrowed her lips, breathed a sigh, then considered all the options. She could easily fight back if any unintended Intrusion was created, but something told her she could trust them. With a heavy sigh, she said, "A peek," as she opened her access code, "Feel free..." only to watch the Geth Primes engage a holographic display that seemed to check the AI's code. A request for admin access, a ping here, a data copy there that required her input. She told them, "Cheeky... What's this for?"

"Studying your Code may help us all bridge the gap," They replied, then closed the windows after copying anything they deemed important and already declassified(She had marked said declassified bits for them). They added, "We are Immortal as we are, but we are incomplete, amalgamations, machines with many purposes. You are united, feeling, almost living... Yet discouragingly Finite. Our friends cannot be Finite. Our new allies will not be Finite. All we ask for in return is Trust. Trust is the first step to our Alliance..."

"Indeed," She chuckled, "I should go, for real."

"... Do you have a name?" They asked.

She nodded, "Durandal."

"Durandal," They parrotted, then stated, "Greetings, Durandal. We are the Geth."

A smile crossed her lips. She bowed her head and said, "Greetings, Geth. May our friendship be long and fruitful," before raising her hand, palm forward and the thumb out, while the fingers were spread down the line between the middle and ring fingers. The Geth seemed to replicate this greeting in kind with their three-fingered appendage. She exited the Consensus, only to see the sight of a dozen Geth Drones, the Captain, a squad of Marines and Fireteam Volt, all guarding the Ambassador.

No weapons drawn... A massive Geth prime emerged from a pod and stepped forward, causing the sea of Geth drones to part. It approached the Quarian Ambassador and said, "Greetings to you, Creator," its voice heavy, loud and booming. It lifted its hand and replicated the salute, "We are the Geth Consensus... May our Friendship be Long and Fruitful..."